FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2000
2000-1 - 1490.PDF
EM£?m± J\ Dassault responds to record jet sales DASSAULT AVIATION is increasing production of its business jet range to eight aircraft a month as the company heads for another record year in sales. Meanwhile, Dassault is working with its partner Embraer on the interior specifications for the Brazilian manufacturer's ECJ-135 Legacy business jet. Dassault president Charles Edelsteene says the new extended range Falcon 2000EX, launched at this month's National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) con vention in New Orleans, has already attracted a "good number" of options which "will become contracts in the coming months". Orders for 32 Falcons have been taken since the end of June, bring ing the total this year to 68. Projections for the year are between 80 and 100, of which "around 15" will go to the fraction al ownership market, Edelsteene adds. The company's previous best year was 1998, widi 99 orders. Production has increased from five aircraft a month early last year to the present seven. Edelsteene says the decision to up the produc tion rate to eight per month was taken "bearing in mind that the market cannot grow forever, but if aircraft take too long to deliver, we lose orders". Dassault is not plan ning a corresponding rise in its workforce. "The key is to maintain flexibility is to adjust production according to market demands." Dassault has a 3.5% stake in Embraer and is providing the regional jet manufacturer with advice on the corporate jet market, and technical help on the interior design of the Legacy and the busi ness jet derivative, die 50-seatERJ- 145 being studied currently. Edelsteene adds: "Embraer wants to address the business jet market and we're helping them." Meanwhile, the strength of the dollar has meant that production costs at Dassault's Arkansas plant in the USA have risen. So die compa ny has begun to transfer some of die work back to its French base in Bordeaux in a move designed to ensure the plants "concentrate on their specialisations", and produc tion costs are minimised. 3 Collins assaulting retrofit market with new Pro Line 21 GRAHAM WARWCK/WASHINGTON DC ROCKWELL COLLINS has launched its Pro Line 21 inte grated avionics on to the retrofit market to meet demand from exist ing business aircraft operators seeking to exploit the latest advances in technology. Pro Line 21 Continuum is aimed at requirements ranging from sub-system upgrades to major flightdeck retrofits. Instal lation will provide operators of in-service aircraft with access to capabilities under development for Pro Line 21 -equipped new aircraft. These include datalinking, graphi cal weather and three-dimensional flight planning, as well as future functionality such as electronic- charting, terrain awareness, head- up guidance and four-dimensional flight management. Collins is entering an upgrade market already occupied by Honeywell with its Primus Epic- Control Display System/Retrofit (CDS/R) and Universal Avionics with its System One. The company is targeting Pro Line 21 Continuum at different levels of retrofit, ranging from sub-system to flightdeck up grades: it will also be offered to upgrade Collins' previous genera tion Pro Line 4 avionics. Collins is expanding its retrofit offering by forming alliances with other manufacturers. Avidyne will supply its FlightMax 850 as a multi function display for turboprops and entry-level jets. BFGoodrich Avionics Systems will provide flat- panel standby instruments as well as its Stormscope lightning detec tion and Landmark terrain aware ness warning systems. Demand for upgrades is being driven by changes in airspace regu lations which could disadvantage operators lacking the latest avio nics technology, Collins says. Examples include required navi gation performance and required time of arrival. Collins is releasing packages for safety, weather, display and other upgrades to modification centres which will certificate the retrofits. Duncan Aviation, for example, has completed a Gulfstream III flight display retrofit and is now working on the GIL Honeywell's Primus Epic CDS/R has been installed in the GUI by DaimlerChrysler Aviation and in the Gil and III by Garrett Aviation Services. The flat-panel display retrofit has also been per formed on a Cessna Citation Vand Lockheed L-100 Hercules. • STW chosen to build Liberty's XL-2 two-seater been set at $85,000, increasing to S97.000 after the first 50, says Liberty marketing manager Keith Wilson. Liberty clinched the first orders for the XL-2 in August from a pri vate owner and the Melbourne, Australia-based Civil Flying School. Further orders from the training centre are anticipated. The XL-2 is the first aircraft production programme for STW, formed in 1996 as a spin-off from Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites prototyping operation, focusing principally on manufacturing cer tificated products. With offices in the UK and USA, Liberty has been formed by shareholders in Europa Aviation to produce a certificated aircraft based on the successful two-seat kitplane, of which more than 750 have been sold. The XL-2 is the'first in a planned family of aircraft, says Wilson, adding: "A new two-seater is important to the food chain." • Liberty believes the XL-2 light aircraft to be "important to the food chain" LIBERTY AEROSPACE has selected Scaled Technology Works (STW) to produce the XL-2 light aircraft, a certificated derivative of the UK-developed Europa kitplane. US certification of die all-com posite, two-seat single is scheduled for the fourth quarter of next year, with deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2002. STW, based in Montrose, Colorado, has signed an agreement with Liberty to manufacture all carbon fibre composite compo nents for die XL-2, including the fuselage, and to assemble the air craft. The initial four-year agree ment covers the production of 50 aircraft in the first year and 150 a year thereafter, with the ability to produce up to 400 a year, says STW president Bill Wailes. Powered by a 75kW (lOOhp) Rotax 912S, the XL-2 has a 285kg (6251b) useful load, 120kt (220km/h) cruise speed and a 925km (500nm) range. The aircraft also has a 1.2m (4ft) wide cockpit. The US price has 30 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24 - 30 October 2000
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
